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Volume XXI Number 6 - March 4, 2022     RSS Feed   

A Periodic Newsletter for Committed Texas Conservatives

In This Issue

Election Success For TCR And Our Endorsed Candidates

Chronicle Endorsements Makes Case To Vote No On Hidalgo, Garcia, And Briones

Lina's Follies Continue

Appalling Voter Turnout

Republican Precinct Conventions On Saturday

The Big Inflation Lie By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

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Gary Polland
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Thoughts This Fortnight

Election Success For TCR
And Our Endorsed Candidates

TCR congratulates all of our endorsed candidates who either won outright on March 1st or advanced to the May 24th Runoff Election.

US House 2 - Dan Crenshaw
US House 7 - Johnny Teague (runoff)
US House 14 - Randy Weber
Governor - Greg Abbott
Lt. Governor - Dan Patrick
Comptroller of Public Accounts - Glenn Hegar
Commissioner of the General Land Office - Dawn Buckingham (runoff)
Agriculture Commissioner - Sid Miller
Railroad Commissioner - Wayne Christian (runoff)
Justice, Texas Supreme Court, Place 9 - Evan Young
State Board of Education District 6 - Will Hickman
State Board of Education District 7 - Julie Pickren
State Senator District 11 - Mayes Middleton
State Representative District 3 - Cecil Bell, Jr
State Representative District 15 -Steve Toth
State Representative District 18 - Janis Holt (runoff)
State Representative District 23 - Patrick Gurski (runoff)
State Representative District 132 - Mike Schofield
State Representative District 138 - Lacey Hull
State Representative District 150 - Valoree Swanson
Justice, Court of Appeals District 9, Place 2 - Jay Wright
Judge, 122nd District Court - Jeth Jones
Judge, 308th District Court - Todd Frankfort
Judge, 313th District Court - Rachel Leal-Hudson
Galveston County Court at Law No 2 - Kerri Foley
Montgomery County Court at Law No 1 - John Hafley
Montgomery County Court at Law No 3 - Amy Tucker
Montgomery County Court at Law No 4 - Echo Hutson
Harris County Judge - Vidal Martinez (runoff)
Montgomery County Judge - Mark Keough
Montgomery County Clerk - Brandon Steinmann
Galveston County Treasurer - Hank Dugie
Harris County Commissioner, Precinct 2 - Jerry Mouton (runoff)
Galveston County Commissioner, Precinct 4 - Ken Clark
Montgomery County Commissioner, Precinct No. 2 - Charlie Riley
Galveston County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 - Blake Apffel
Galveston County Republican Party Chair - Patrick McGinnis

Chronicle Endorsements Makes Case To Vote No
On Hidalgo, Garcia, And Briones

As a public service, the Chronicle editorial board (comprised we are told by only out-of-state "journalists" relocated to Houston) is actually presenting key points of why to not vote for the above three candidates. We at TCR decided to analyze them in a series. This week Lina Hidalgo, next week Adrian Garcia and the following week Leslie Briones.

In a style that is fascinating in the same endorsement editorial, the Chronicle tells us the endorsed negatives too. As for the positive, you be the judge.

Part One: Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge

The Chronicle praises Lina Hidalgo for leading during a chemical fire (where the Fire Department had responsibility), a global pandemic where the Harris County Red Level has slowed the criminal courts and all public services of the county with many departments closed to the public way too long, a winter storm (where she contributed what?), the grid issue in 2021 and she did what?, and a crime surge which is in many ways her fault shared with other pro-crime elected officials.

They like that she closed the Rodeo - which with precautions would have been fine, her "bold" mask mandate has been revealed as Lina the hypocrite for sponsoring a campaign rally, with no mask, with no vaccination cards, no nothing. She has failed to explain to date why, and the fact that even Dr. Fauci admits most masks make no difference.

They appreciate her ethics, but that was exposed when she helped a Democratic one-person shop get an $11 million so-called Covid outreach contract even though they were not the low bidder, and had no experience. She beat a hasty retreat when exposed and a Grand Jury is investigating her office for this unethical and potentially illegal conduct.

What the Chronicle fails to tell us is about the runaway spending on her watch, the emptying of the Harris County Rainy Day fund, the refusal to provide necessary funding for law enforcement, the jails and the DA, her support of the woke-left bail reform, and so much more, including the Covid hospital she ordered built at NRG Stadium for $17 million that had ZERO patients.

The fact is that Harris County deserves better. Hidalgo's stunningly lack of experience and qualifications which used to be important to the Chronicle is as lacking now as it was in 2018. Her woke-left philosophy is out of touch with Texans, regardless of party.

Lina's Follies Continue
Hidalgo's Hand-Picked Elections Administrator An Election Day Disaster

The absolute disaster that is Lina Hidalgo - the accidental County Judge - returned on March 1st to haunt Election Day. Hidalgo's hand-picked Elections Administrator, Isabel Longoria in Hidalgo fashion failed in epic proportions that could not have been predicted.

What happened? To start, many election judges started the day without voting machines or with voting machines that would not function and had to wait for machines to be delivered. At one point it was reported that 90% of machines were either not delivered or were not functioning, which caused lines that stretched as far as the eye could see. It also became apparent that workers were not trained properly, which exasperated the delays. In addition to a lack of machines or functioning machines, some polling locations received the wrong size paper which shut down the location until the correct size paper could be delivered. Then there was a widespread issue of ballot choices printing smudged, making them illegible. Those ballots were segregated for later review. Apparently the "Gang that couldn't shoot straight" was going to later "determine voter intent." That's not comforting. Voters who had issues, which were many, reported that elections workers were perusing the printed ballots, obviously compromising the "secret ballot."

One election worker when asked about the pervasiveness of the problem told TCR, "It's everywhere." In her opinion though, it was "just with the Republican machines." Well, that's comforting to know. The widespread issue on the Republican side, led some Republicans to suggest conspiracy and subterfuge. Republican Harris County Judge candidate Vidal Martinez didn't dismiss the possibility of conspiracy saying, "I think what we are experiencing is more like The Three Stooges rather than The Manchurian Candidate, but I don't rule out Democrat schemes, either. Perhaps it is both." If nothing else, Martinez left us with a lasting image, that of Lina Hidalgo, Isabel Longoria and Rodney Ellis chasing each other in a room of non-working voting machines akin to Larry, Moe and Curly.

In another pop-culture reference, GOP ballot integrity expert and activist Alan Vera told TCR, "You may be too young to appreciate this reference, but our elections are being run by the F Troop."

Senator Paul Bettencourt, who was first a grassroots activist and then Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector before being elected State Senator, said "This is the worst election that I've seen from a central processing count unit that's being run by an election administrator or county clerk in my whole history of looking at elections."

Whether malevolence or incompetence or a little bit of both, this gives us one more reason to send Lina Hidalgo and Adrian Garcia packing in November.

Appalling Voter Turnout
Conservatives Must Do Better

On the other side of the world, the people of Ukraine are fighting for their lives against an overwhelming Russian invasion force. Last week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a decision to make - to flee or stand and fight with his people - he chose to stand his ground, risking certain death. Here at home, one of the most daunting decisions Texans faced was whether or not to vote. Sadly, a mere 17.5% of Texans chose to participate in the primary elections (both Republican and Democrat combined.) That means that 82.5% of Texans registered to vote, decided to stay home. That is truly shameful, and we must do better.

Republican Precinct Conventions On Saturday

As you probably know, precinct conventions did not take place this year on Election night as has been the case for many years. This year, precinct conventions will take place on Saturday, March 5th. The precinct convention is the kickoff of the convention process, where resolutions are passed and delegates are elected to the Senatorial District Conventions, which is the next stop on the path to the Republican State Convention. Anyone who voted in this year's Republican primary election is eligible to attend the precinct convention and beyond. Saturday's convention doors open at 8:00 a.m. for registration with the conventions called to order at 9:00 a.m. For complete details including locations, please visit https://www.harriscountygop.com/conventions/. Senate District Conventions will be held March 26th with the State Republican Convention happening on June 16-18 here in Houston.

The Big Inflation Lie
By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

President Biden, no economic expert, wants to blame the high rate of inflation on the pandemic created shortages like computer chips stopping cars from being built. While supply chains were altered for a time and some products still have backlogs there are two major reasons that the inflation rate has accelerated to the highest it has been in two generations. Those two reasons are self-inflicted wounds, almost exclusively by Biden policies.

By far the most tangible one is the price of energy. It does not take much to figure out when you see the average price of an oil barrel - 2020 $39.68, 2021 $68.17 and 2022 $84.70. We don't know where the average price in 2022 will end up for the year, but it is a good bet it will be north of the current figure - above $95.00.

American oil production went from 5,484,000 barrels in 2010 to 11,283,000 in 2020. Some of that growth came at the end of the Obama Administration due to private land fracking, but the figures really soared during the Trump era. Oil production dropped 1.1 million barrels in 2021. Natural gas production went from 22,381,873 million cubic feet in 2010 to 36,202,466 million cubic feet in 2020. Again, it rose during the Obama administration, but accelerated during the Trump era.

Production is predicted to rebound in 2022, but will we continue on our upward trajectory which will bring prices down? The stall that occurred once the Biden Administration took over caused an upward spiral. The Biden government is doing its best to discourage oil and gas production in the United States.

Not only has Biden put a clamp on production here, but he has also discouraged production In Canada through shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline. Biden has thrown his lot in with the environmentalists who believe we can live on solar and wind power, the only clean energy sources they fully endorse. Sure, they accept hydropower - to the extent it does not disturb waterways they want undisturbed, but nuclear which is clean, yet evil in their eyes, is energy source non grata.

What they forget is oil doesn't just power vehicles and airplanes, it is used in the plastics that touch virtually everything in our lives. The clothing we wear, the glasses on our faces, and the containers that hold the food we eat.

By turning us away from the energy independence that we had created prior to his administration Biden has caused a major element of the inflation that we are burdened with today. Everything is touched by the cost of oil and gas. Certainly, the sign at the corner gas station with ever raising prices is the most visible, but not necessarily the most determinant in the crushing increase in inflation. Just think how much more it costs to ship products from a foreign country or from Minnesota to your grocery shelf.

This is an unforced error of momentous proportions driven by a zealous and naïve political philosophy. The worst part is that the energy sources they dream will replace oil are nowhere near effective since they are dependent on the vagaries of nature. Ask the supporters of the green revolution what it would cost to develop the batteries necessary to store energy for the times the winds don't blow or the sun goes down. They have no answer because they either don't know, or they do know, and they are aware the public would turn on them knowing the reality of an estimated few hundred trillion dollars. They can live with 7.5% inflation when they are saving our planet.

The second self-inflicted wound is the disregard of an elemental concept. A grade schooler understands the basics of supply and demand theory. It seems that Biden has found "economic experts" who live in denial that this exists. While the supply of many things is being crushed Biden ramped up demand with his first legislation in March 2021. In December, Trump had signed a bill to inject $1 trillion of made-up money into the economy to stave off the effects of government forced shutdowns.

The reasoned thing would be to let that money be spent and consider how that changed the economic picture. Not when you and your party needed a victory and wanted people more tied to government benefits than the fruits of their own labor. Instead, they passed another $1.9 trillion of handouts with questionable parameters as to why people needed that money.

To evidence their lack of understanding of how ramping up demand by injecting made up money into the economy chasing the same supply, the Biden team is still telling us their disastrous Build Back Better baloney will get passed during 2022. Their desire to pursue their Left-wing government-centric policies seem to be more important than controlling the expanding inflation. Nancy, Chuck and Joe are still trying to tell us the injection of up to $4.9 trillion will tame inflation. This delirious position insults not only us, but themselves.

Have supply chain shortages caused some inflation in the economy, yes. Will it be transitory, probably not. Is it corporate greed as President Biden and his ill-informed idealogue buddy Lizzie Warren like to tell us know - NO. Until the Biden Administration focuses on the ill-conceived policies they have created and adjust, inflation will rage, and their heads will be on the political chopping block.

Let's see what Biden says in his State of the Union address which is supposedly going to focus on this issue.


Bruce Bialosky is the founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former Presidential appointee. You can follow Bruce on Twitter @brucebialosky.

Tune In To What's Your Point?
On Fox 26 Sunday, March 6th at 7:00 AM

TCR Editor Gary Polland returns to Fox 26 Houston this Sunday, March 6th, on What's Your Point? hosted by Greg Groogan. Hear his take on the Harris County Election Day train wreck engineered by Lina Hidalgo and her hand picked election czar Isabel Longoria. Just tune in at 7:00 am live, YouTube it, set your DVR or go to:
https://www.fox26houston.com/.


TCR on the Air

Gary Polland is now a regular on "What's Your Point?" hosted by Greg Groogan on Fox 26 Houston, appearing every other week. Tune in or set your recorder for 7:00 am Sundays.

Red, White, and Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland on Fridays at 7:30 pm on Houston Public Media TV 8, replaying Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 8, Monday at 11:30 pm on Channel 8.2 and on the web at www.houstonpublicmedia.org.

Red, White & Blue returns in who knows?

About Your Editor

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his twenty-sixth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last twenty-one years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 18 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 21st year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on Houston Public Media TV 8 PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary serves on the Board of Directors of American Values, a national pro-family, pro-faith, conservative organization supporting the unity of the American people around the vision of our founding fathers and dedicated to reminding the public of the conservative principles fundamental to the survival of our nation. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.

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